Lewis Hamilton took his 72nd career victory, his tenth of the 2018 season and second in Interlagos. Valtteri Bottas set the fastest lap of the race – his tenth fastest lap in Formula One – and finished the race in P5. The result marks the 50th win of the hybrid era for Lewis, which means that he won more than 50 per cent of the 99 races since 2014.
Lewis Hamilton
That’s real history in the making for the team. If I were to stop today with Mercedes, I would always remember this day and that I was a part of it and that’s so cool. This has been a seriously tough year and everyone on this team has fought so hard, harder than we’ve ever fought and we’re the most united that we’ve ever been – which is not expected when you’ve had success in previous years and could easily drop the ball. The guys have been continuing to raise the bar.
It was such a tough race for me, but I really wanted to deliver and win this for the team. It has such a big knock-on effect. Everyone on the team can now go into the last race and into the winter, knowing that they won the world title and that they’re legends. I am so grateful for all the hard work – here at the track, back home at the factories, at Petronas and all of our partners – I’m so proud to be part of this team. I’m actually kind of nervous to go back to the factories and hear the roar – I think the atmosphere is going to be incredible.
I didn’t expect the Red Bulls to be in the race like that today, I thought they’d be in a similar pace to us, but they were quite a bit quicker
We struggled with the tyres in the first stint and they were able to manage the tyres better than us. In the second stint, I was on the Medium tyre and had an issue with the engine. So I was really just trying to bring the car across the line. Max [Verstappen] passed me which was painful, but then they had an issue and all of a sudden I was back in the lead. I was on the radio, telling my engineers “I don’t want to give it up, tell me what I need to do” – I was pushing so hard at the end, taking every risk to bring it home with a win. This is a high, but I want to stay on that wave and win the next race as well.
P1 ? A weekend to remember ????? pic.twitter.com/S7BrH5tT2i
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 11, 2018
Valtteri Bottas
I’m really happy and proud to be part of this team. This is down to hard work by every single team member, both back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth as well as here at the race track. They really deserve this title! It’s usually only a few people who are in the spotlight all the time. But there are many, many hidden heroes in our team – thank you all!
We kept everything together even under immense pressure, minimised our mistakes and did a great job developing the car – huge congratulations to everyone
The race was a bit tricky; everything went as planned at the start and we could gain the lead at the beginning, but after that, it got more difficult. In the first stint, I was struggling with overheating the tyres. In the second stint, I was struggling with blistering on the Mediums. So we had to stop a second time. I think we didn’t quite have the pace today. It was a slightly tougher race than I expected, I was a bit more optimistic before the race, but overall it is a great day for Mercedes.
Constructors Champions 2018!#VB77 #F1 @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/Uz1Oi0jFv9
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) November 11, 2018
